"What?"
The word slipped out of Anas's mouth as he stared at something that looked exactly like him.
Despite the pain of the wound in his side, he did not raise his hand to grab it. On one hand, he did not feel the pain much, and on the other… his mind had drifted again?
'I'm facing myself…'
The idea itself was strange, but in Anas's eyes it was complex and… exciting?
How was he supposed to even deceive himself?
If he wanted to defeat that thing, he would have to change himself in order to defeat himself.
If that thing was truly his reflection, then it possessed the same way of thinking. And since it thought like him… then it also knew that Anas was drowning in his analysis.
Unfortunately, Anas realized this when the reflection was directly in front of him, swinging its sword to cut him down.
It felt as if time was almost stopping, and what made the moment sharper was Anas's enhanced eye.
'When did it get here?'
There was no time left to think further. The problem was that Anas's eyes did not even widen, as if he had not yet exited that foolish analytical state.
Every second here was the difference between life and death.
But…
Humans were designed for this.
When the mind fails to choose… the body chooses.
Anas dropped down quickly, tightening the muscles in his legs like a drawn string.
The black blade whistled above his head with a sharp sound.
He had escaped death.
But the reflection moved its foot instantly and kicked him hard in the face, sending him rolling backward.
Anas's hand scraped against the ground as he tried to stop himself, leaving a bit of redness.
When he finally stopped, he staggered while on all fours.
A drop of blood slid from his mouth like a thin red thread, but the reflection had no intention of letting him rest.
It closed the distance between them, crushing all his remaining hopes.
If those hopes even existed at all.
The reflection raised its blade, ready to deliver an execution, and Anas lunged forward instead of fleeing.
'I'll cut its artery.'
Anas reached for the reflection's neck, but he did not make it.
His vision slipped for a moment.
He felt a black elbow strike his back, throwing him off balance. He changed his target to the sword, only to be met with a powerful punch to the face that pushed him back, ruining his plan.
The reflection danced in counter-movements against everything Anas did, as if it were a mirror…
Reading his thoughts and returning them back at him so he could not use them.
And despite all previous attempts, the gap between Anas and his reflection remained large.
Anas was not weaker than his reflection.
He had simply chosen to enter instinct mode, making survival his only concern.
Before the reflection could continue its barrage, Anas grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it in front of him as a barrier. Then, before it could react, he kicked the chair toward the reflection. It struck its knee and forced it to fall forward.
Without wasting the opportunity, Anas grabbed the reflection by the hair and slammed it into the chair.
The chair shattered, wooden fragments scattering everywhere.
But pain pierced Anas's head.
The sword had pierced his leg when the reflection tried to regain balance.
What a wonderful stroke of luck.
For the reflection, of course.
The reflection prepared to raise its sword and tear through Anas's leg, but Anas kicked it in the face, forcing its head back.
In that instant where the enemy's neck was exposed, only one thought existed in Anas's mind: tear it apart.
For a moment, Anas noticed the reflection's jaw muscles tightening, but he did not care.
He surged forward with force, mouth open, teeth bared—he wanted to rip the enemy's artery and end it.
Clack.
His mouth snapped shut violently.
The reflection had lifted its sword and struck Anas's lower jaw with the hilt.
Without slowing down, it threw a punch that Anas blocked by striking its forearm. The reflection stepped forward, raised its knee, and hit him in the stomach.
Air escaped his chest.
But… he smiled.
Anas felt everything he had ever gone through in his mind surface as past battles.
He had studied his opponent's style enough to fight it hundreds of times in his mind, searching for the flaw within his own reflection.
In the end… there was only one Anas.
But his analytical ability was a cursed blessing.
It always made him drift at the wrong moment!
Shhhshshshfsh
Anas coughed.
His mouth filled with the taste of rusty metal.
When he lowered his gaze, his eyes widened at what he saw.
The sword had pierced his chest, and the reflection pressed it further in with a muffled sound.
Then he realized something.
He… did not have a sword. From the beginning, the flaw had been right in front of him, but he had not used it.
The reflection had a sword, while he did not.
'This is the missing piece.'
Anas felt such excitement that he almost forgot he was dying.
Something began forming from him—a black blade absorbing the light around it.
The reflection's eyes widened and it hesitated for a moment.
It seemed it did not expect this.
Whoosh. drip drip drip.
The world flipped in the reflection's eyes as it spun, seeing red droplets scattering like rain before its head fell to the ground.
Blood gushed like a fountain from the reflection's neck, splashing onto Anas's outstretched hand and then his face before slowly evaporating.
The reflection's body began fading, as if it had never existed.
He stood there panting, staring at the disappearing body, while the thought that he should abandon his annoying over-analysis faded away with it.
Without his analysis, he would have died.
Maybe… he just needed to control it and sharpen it. That would be better.
Silence filled the room.
flap flap flap.
"Beautiful, beautiful. I did not expect you to defeat your reflection so quickly. This is my incarnation."
Priscilla, who had just entered through the door, stood there with her wide smile.
But Anas ignored her.
Instead, he stared at his chest, disregarding her words, and saw the sword disappearing as well while his wound slowly healed.
"Don't worry. Your regeneration ability has increased now. But it has a price. I don't know what it is, but it has a price."
Anas tilted his head slightly.
"So you don't know much about anything, do you? The benefits of abilities… even their cost. Is that one of your flaws?"
Priscilla placed a finger on her chin.
"Hmmm, yes. That's probably it. But it doesn't matter. I have a gift for you."
Anas stared at her coldly.
"A gift? After dragging me into this damned nonsense without my permission?"
He closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed.
When he opened them again, the sword dissolved into red threads that returned slowly into him, along with his clarity of mind.
"Fine. I'd be lying if I said I didn't benefit from this. But next time, warn me first."
Priscilla laughed softly, then stepped closer and placed her hand on his heart.
"Close your eyes. Don't peek!"
Anas began to feel something changing inside him, being reshaped.
The sensation was strange, but he trusted this idiot because he remembered that his death meant her death too.
But was she even serious?
She had tried to kill him several times because of her nonsense.
Well, it did not matter now. He was alive.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Outside.
Far from Anas and Naivy. Above the walls of Vingard.
Moonlight fell upon two men wearing white robes embroidered with gold, their garments flowing in the night wind like waves in a calm sea.
One of them stared at the destruction below the wall and said to his companion:
"Captain. This destruction is more than what I studied about what monsters usually do."
The other man looked at him for a moment, scratching his beard slightly.
"Of course the field will not match reality, rookie. But despite this destruction, there may be survivors."
"Really? In my opinion, whoever survives this would be a monster in human form."
The young man stood and stretched a little.
"Damn them. Why did they send us here? I was close to winning Lya's heart."
The older man sighed tiredly.
"Stop complaining, you brat. We are here because the king trusts us."
The young man waved his hand as if dismissing the idea.
"He doesn't trust us. He just sent us because our achievements are impressive. No one else would accept investigating the fall of a colony. This is the first time it has ever happened anyway."
The older man began walking, and the young man followed him.
"Doesn't matter. The important thing is we'll kill some monsters."